South Carolina Postgame Thread[merged thread]

[HuskyNan]

Looks more shoulder than neck. Also what injury did Ono sustain in Fridays game?

She aggravated the groin injury

 

[CTGirl15]

Looks more shoulder than neck. Also what injury did Ono sustain in Fridays game?

Geno I think said it was Liv's groin today, which was also an issue earlier in the season and she missed 2 - 3 games with a groin issue.

 

[TeamFirst!]

49 - 24 rebounding advantage. Other than that we won quite a few of the comps. Geno knew this was a problem and he went out and recruited 2 bigs next year. He said he needed to recruit a different type of player and he is clearly right. I don’t think it was enough though. SC recruited 2 more great players for next year and this year’s top recruit is recovering from an injury.

 

[CTtoSanDiego]

First, a great year for our Huskies, given all the adversity all year. Making it to the championship game was amazing. Having said that, the way we came out in tonight's game was very disappointing. It was like we weren't ready to play. That was embarrassing. But, as if all the adversity we faced all year wasn't enough, we lost Dorka last game, and Azzi was sick for this one. South Carolina would have been a tough foe at full strength, but we were depleted.
Now, Paige was good, but not as assertive as we needed her to be. Took control late in the first half, but was way too deferential in the second half. Some of that was SC's defense, but great players need to assert themselves. I'd rather go down with her taking 20 or 30 shots than with some of the shots other players ended up taking. Still, she is an amazing talent we are blessed to have to watch for at least another year (and hopefully 2 or 3).
Our seniors were a big disappointment tonight. They had good careers, but tonight, Liv was just okay and CW was AWOL. E was good, not great. She gave us all she had for two years. I applaud them all, even though more was expected.
Nika and Caroline played hard, if not always well. I'm very glad to have them back next year, and expect good things.
Finally, and I hate to say this, I think we were outcoached. SC came out fierce and ready to play, and I don't think we did. Still, given the mismatches, Geno was up against it.
I'm looking forward to next year!

 

[Happydad745]

36 of our 49 points were from Freshman and Sophomore's.....good start for next year.

 

[cferraro04]

South Carolina might be better next year so UConn needs to get healthy and better themselves.

We might be better next year as well...

 

[slepers]

Agree that the better team won tonight, but I also think that our A game from the tip-off could've ended with a different result.

The real reason for this post is to say that I believe the chat room is for devoted fans who love women's basketball and who have followed the UConn women for years and who have high hopes and high expectations of the team. That means we write happy, excited posts when they do great things and not-so-happy posts when they under perform. I don't think Liv would expect a congratulatory chat post when she draws draw her upteenth moving screen foul of the tournament, or AE would want "that's okay -- you did your best" when she blows an open bunny. I know the players expect excellence of themselves... that's why they're at UConn. Wouldn't you all find a "Pollyannas Only" chat room to be extremely boring.

The chat room is a negative place even when they win by 30.

 

[BBallF]

Some thoughts on the South Carolina game:

• We have come to the end of one of the most challenging seasons in anyone’s memory. While the UConn Huskies fell short of their ultimate goal, there is so much to celebrate about this team. Playing shorthanded for much of the season, through 11 different starting lineups, UConn persevered, surviving an incredibly difficult gantlet during the NCAA Tournament to make it to their 12th national championship game.
• Even tonight, against an overpowering SC team, UConn played shorthanded. Whether having Dorka and Aubrey available would have made much of a difference, who knows? But just like your mom’s chicken soup, “It couldn’t hurt.”
• Credit the South Carolina Gamecocks for earning their 2nd national championship in convincing fashion. SC has earned the right, on the court this year, to display a national championship banner at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC.
• Some UConn fans will criticize Husky players and coaches about the game tonight, and some of those criticisms may be justified. However, many criticisms will simply be the emotional response to the disappointment that we all feel when our beloved Huskies come up short of our hopes and expectations. I will remind everyone that as bad as we all may feel about UConn’s loss, the players feel infinitely worse.
• I want to express my heartfelt thanks and deep appreciation to our departing seniors: Christyn, Liv & Evina, whose dedication, hard work and sacrifice for UConn WBB was extraordinary. I wish each of them great success in the WNBA or wherever their paths in life may lead them. They will always be in our hearts.
• How I love UConn WBB! I will be following their every move in the offseason, impatiently counting the days until Dorka, Aubrey, Paige, Aaliyah, Nika, Piath, Azzi, Caroline, Amari, Ice & Ayanna lace up their sneakers, trying once again to chase down a 12th banner. GO HUSKIES!!!

Any other post after this is unnecessary - everything that needed to be said is wrapped up here with grace and dignity - thank you

I don't agree that everything is wrapped up. Something else needs to be said. I agree with the idea of grace and dignity but I also agree with the concept of enforcing the rules of the game equitably and as they are written. Until the NCAA gets officials that will enforce the rules of basketball and blow their whistles, and not act at times like AAU referees, both in the men's and women's games, regarding freedom of movement, hand checking, pushing, and walking it will be the bigger and more physical team that will prevail.

This was the least officiated NCAA finals game, men or women, I can ever recall seeing. South Carolina may be the most physical team in the country and for them to have 11 total fouls to our 21, or an average of 2.6 per 10 minute quarter is a joke. If you go back and look at this game closely you will see several uncalled fouls by Boston alone. When Evina went up that one time and they repeated it, you could see an obvious body foul on the leg and arm. The play by play announcer, who needs to go back to basketball school, didn't recognize it, which showed me where the game has now gone, but the refs are trained supposedly to know better.

We lost that game. The refs didn't cause it but they were putrid and emblematic of the gender inequity in the sport based upon the quality of the officials in the women's game as compared to the men's games which was apparent all year. We didn't even have our B game tonight. Azzi was sick, CW was shut down or just exhausted, Evina came to play but got hurt and others just didn't have it. We were generally tired and lacking energy. It wasn't voluntary. We played 3 intense games in 6 days with a day of travel in between. You can get by for one game. The second one on one day's rest, will get you. SC had an easier Semis game and an extra day rest before. The men get 5 full days in between the E8 and the FF not 3 like us.

We were flat. Even so, with some obvious calls, it may have been closer but probably not enough. I just have a real problem with the women's game evolving into a smaller version of the men's game and I see it coming. It's what you will get unless the feckless NCAA either enforces the rules or changes them. I would recommend to everyone Jay Bilas' recent critique of men's college basketball. Parts of it, especially about the restriction of movement, apply equally to our game. I love this team too, am incredibly proud to be a fan, and because of that I always also want our women to be treated fairly. They were not tonight. I'm sorry but that needs to be said also. Would it have effected the outcome? I think not. But our team deserved a well officiated game. They got nothing of the sort.

 

[BRS24]

 

[BRS24]

 

[Carnac]

First, congratulations and a tip o’ the turban to Dawn Staley, her staff and her team. They were the best team from wire to wire. No one gave them anything. They earned everything they got. This was their year.

Our players did a remarkable job in dealing with all of the obstacles that was put before them this season. Looking back at where they came from (only having 7 players at times), to where they finished, playing in the championship game, I choose to acknowledge all of the positive things this team did rather than dwell on its shortcomings.

I’m proud to be a UConn women’s basketball fan. I will PROUDLY wear my UConn gear out in public this spring and summer. We came a lot closer to winning the NC this year then we have the last six years. My fellow fans, the sun will rise tomorrow and we can begin to talk about next season.

 

[Mike72fl]

Looking ahead to next year, starting lineup - Paige, Azzi, CD, Edward, and Dorka.

 

[Mike72fl]

I want our two bigs, other than Dorka, to work HARD off season to be productive next year.

 

[BRS24]

I’m proud to be a UConn women’s basketball fan. I will PROUDLY wear my UConn gear out in public this spring and summer. We came a lot closer to winning the NC this year then we have the last six years. My fellow fans, the sun will rise tomorrow and we can begin to talk about next season.

Good point. We went 4 years in a row (excluding 2020) with loses in the semis, and broke thru this year, only to lose in the final. The players that experienced last and/or this year have something to work with.

 

[nickp91]

This setback might be exactly what Paige, Azzi, and Caroline need to take their games to the next level next season

 

[Mike72fl]

AND I want GENO to be as tough next year with the girls as he was in Stewie’s 1st year. No more mellow old man!

 

[Scooter]

Charlie Creme of ESPN has UCONN as #2 in his early ranking for next year behind SC and just ahead of Stanford.

 

[LarryLegend]

Is it just Patterson and Brady next year?

 

[EasyEd]

When we were getting beat on the boards so badly I wished that they had Aubrey available. She's not as tall as them but she has great leaping ability and a nose for the ball. Just another of those things that worked against UConn this year. The team certainly put forth effort, but because we did so bad on the boards Geno directed the guards to go get the rebounds, too (at least that's what he said in one of the sideline interviews). So South Carolina's interior/rebounding game really opened it up for their guards. South Carolina had a good game plan and they executed it. We still had a great season considering all that we had been through this year. I really enjoyed the NC St and Stanford games a lot. I don't think either of those teams would have fared any better than us. It was just SC's year.

 

[BRS24]

Charlie Creme of ESPN has UCONN as #2 in his early ranking for next year behind SC and just ahead of Stanford.

Argh. I get that ESPN wants clicks, but really? He couldn't wait until tomorrow? Then again, he predicted the top 16 tourney teams on April 27th of last year, so ....

 

[CTGirl15]

Is it just Patterson and Brady next year?

In terms of recruits? Yes. But, we all know the portal is huge now and I would not be surprised if UConn snags a player or two out of there.

 

[BRS24]

She aggravated the groin injury

 

[and one]

Twice UConn made decent comebacks when it looked like the score would get ugly. Not enough as they were overmatched. I say this not as criticism of UConn but rather to acknowledge that SC was the better team by a wide margin in this game.

I can't be critical of CW, Azzi and all the other shooters; as good as SC was around the rim, offence and defense, they also made getting a decent shot off very difficult. Even Paige never managed to get clean looks.

Next year (so, so far away!) we'll be a very good team. Maybe better than very good. As many games as they'll win, which will be a lot, to a person the team will know that to win a NC they will in all likelyhood have to be good enough to beat SC, and to do that means being able to challenge them in the paint. The bigs know they will have to work hard.

Good luck to our seniors as they pursue their dreams beyond UConn. The team had a terrific season under the circumstances.